Ahhhh, the Holiday Season has finally begun, kicked off by Thanksgiving. For the next month, everyone will be bustling around in, hopefully, good spirits, decking the halls and shopping for the perfect gift to give a loved one. At least that's how it should go. Amid the cheerful Christmas tunes played ad nauseum and the tinsel on the trees, however, many people get their worst depressive episodes. Depression cases increase during the holidays, and there's a long standing myth that more people commit suicide around this time than any other time. Though the myth has been debunked, its based on a real issue. People do get worn down this time of year.
Why do people develop strong, negative feelings during a transition period between Thanksgiving and Christmas? There are a lot of factors involved. For one, when have your Christmases ever measured up to the Christmases in the sappy movies we watch every year? We don't get those magic, razzle-dazzly scenes in our life because those scenes only happen in Hollywood. Yet many people succumb to feelings of depression because they cannot achieve these lofty goals. The holidays are a stressful time, and there's a lot that needs to be done, and when you can't get those things done to your liking, you're bound to be in a bad place emotionally.
Not every family is as close as the families in It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story. Many families are horribly dysfunctional, and, for them, the holidays is pure torture. When you are forced to break bread with a person you can't stand, it's no wonder you feel like crying. Plus, what with the recent election, politics discussed over holiday dinner is bound to be more intense this year. Then there are the people who have no one to celebrate with: the elderly left in the nursing home, completely out of touch with their grandkids. I've seen instances of this in the nursing home my grandmother stays at in New York, and it breaks my heart.
Finally, the dark, gloomy weather can bring down one's spirits. It's rapidly getting darker and darker and colder and colder. The sun shines less, so you are losing Vitamin D, which is a key nutrient for living things. There's actually a special type of depression that only occurs at certain times of the year called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). This is a very real mental illness and isn't any less painful than year-round chronic depression.
So what do we do with the Holiday Blues? Usually, it's just the stress of the holidays that bring us down, so we have to stop draining ourselves of energy by worrying. Relax. Things will turn out alright, and if they don't, they will. You're, hopefully, surrounded with people who love and appreciate you, and they are there for you to lean on. If it becomes unbearable, schedule a visit with a therapist. They've seen this all before and have great ideas about how to cope with it all. There is no reason why we should let the holidays bring us down.
